Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, December 21, 2020
Shalom,
Reflection on the Election (part 2) Subtitle: Will you “Run-and-Hide?”
There is a Psalm that is not part of the Bible. It’s titled “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44644/a-psalm-of-life It talks at length about the purpose for life. It has 8 verses, and at the end of the 4th verse, we find the phrase that is the reason I brought it up. “Be a hero in the strife.” Some people (regardless of their stature in life) have a propensity to run-and-hide. When there is a call to action, a reason to step up and fight, many people want to run-and hide.
To be a hero in the strife is exactly the opposite of “run-and-hide.” I’m against run-and-hide anything, any time, any where, any body.
I’m against run-and-hide managers. These are people who want to sit in their office catching up on paperwork when the business is most busy and there is a need for all-hands-on-deck.
I’m against run-and-hide government officials. These are showing themselves with regularity in all 3 branches of government. We have administrators who want to pretend there was nothing unusual about this past election. We have legislators who want to sit quietly and vote yes when asked. And now we’re seeing know-nothing and do-nothing judges. Only now are they afraid to legislate from the bench.
In every case, these government officials claim to have no evidence of wrongdoing in the election. They have no evidence because they refuse to examine the evidence. They refuse to allow the plaintiffs to make a case and then they claim there is no case. (In the words of Mike Tyson, “That’s ludicrous.”
I’m against run-and-hide saints of the Lord. These are people who want to pretend they don’t even know the Lord when there is a call to action, even for prayer. The last line of “4 Dead in Ohio” (song by CSN&Y released in June 1970) “how can you run when you know” seems to apply. How can you run-and-hide when you know? Be a hero in the strife. Pray and demand accountability.
Proverbs 24:10 If you falter in a day of adversity, your strength is small. 11 Rescue those being dragged off to death, hold back those stumbling to slaughter. 12 If you say, “Look, we didn’t know this.” Won’t He who weighs hearts perceive it? Won’t He who guards your soul know it? Won’t He repay each one according to his deeds?
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon 21-Dec-2020 6th of Tevet, 5781
Ge 44:31-45:7 2 Sa 10-11 Ps 82-83 Lk 7 (2 Co 6)
The great reveal… Genesis 45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph!” For the previous 2 Torah portions we have read how the Lord orchestrated people and events to bring history to this place, so that all the children of Israel will end up in Egypt. And what is God’s purpose in it all?
How can God bring the children of Israel up out of Egypt until they first go down there? How can He deliver Israel from the 10 plagues (really only the last 7). And how can He deliver the Law at Mt. Sinai unless He first deliver the children of Israel from the Egyptians?
Everything God does is with many layers of purpose. We must never be satisfied with surface explanations and understandings. The highest layer of God’s purpose in “the reveal” is the great revelation, when Yeshua will be revealed to His people Israel and from Israel to the whole world. Yes, He coming back! Yeshua left us 40 days after the resurrection, which is 10 days before Shavuot/Pentecost. That first Shavuot after the resurrection is the day the Holy Spirit fell with power. Read all about it in Acts 2.
The whole Bible is more than a history of mankind. It is the story of the salvation of the world. It follows the plot of every love story. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy ultimately triumphs and wins the love of his life. In the history of the world, the “Boy” is Yeshua HaMashiach and the “girl” is the bride of Messiah, the saved remnant of mankind. It’s a great story that touches my heart, and I pray it touches your heart too.
Week 52
Memory Verse: Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
* 256 12/21 Monday: Revelation 2
257 12/22 Tuesday: Revelation 3
258 12/23 Wednesday: Revelation 19:6-20
259 12/24 Thursday: Revelation 21
260 12/25 Friday: Revelation 22
Question of the Day: What is the first answer to every life problem?
Answer: REPENT!!! Every solution starts with repentance. Revelation 2:16a Repent then! True repentance is a humble self-examination to find errors. There are errors of commission (things we have done wrongly) and errors of omission (things we have not done, but should have done.
Also worthy of examination is timing. Have we made errors that are connected to timing (too soon or too late)? True repentance is sweet in the sight of the Lord. Repentance is a sign of humility, and we know how God views humility. Proverbs 22:4 The reward of humility and fear of Adonai is riches, honor and life.